NONFICTION - March 7, 1993

GOLDEN WARRIOR by Lawrence James (Paragon House: $24.95; 406 pp.). British historian Lawrence James, author of 12 books, clearly prefers sweeping subjects: He is now at work on a history of the British Empire; his previous works include a study of the British presence in Africa between 1870 and 1920, and one of mutiny in Britain’s military forces between 1797 and 1956. “The Golden Warrior” is his engrossing attempt to come to terms with one man, whose mythic status eventually turned him into a Hollywood hero: T.E. Lawrence, known to moviegoing audiences as Lawrence of Arabia. James had access to new sources as well as existing material, enabling him to rewrite two particularly well-known pieces of Lawrence lore. He argues that the supposed rape of Lawrence by the Turks--a crucial scene in the film--never happened. And he insists that Lawrence’s story of the capture of Damascus is pure fiction. He paints a picture of a charmer, an intelligent, eager man who was fascinated by the Arabs--but also of a liar who rewrote military history.